The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Life on the Moon

[ 1 ] In the world age of the Moon, which follows that of the Sun, human beings develop their third of the seven states of consciousness. The first developed during the seven Saturn cycles, the second during the Sun’s evolution; the fourth is the one that humanity is gradually unfolding right now during the Earth cycle; three more will come into being on subsequent planets. The state of consciousness of the Saturnian human cannot be compared to any such state of the present-day human, for it was more dull than that of dreamless sleep. Solar consciousness, however, can be compared to this state of dreamless sleep or even to the present-day consciousness of the €“ sleeping €“ plant world. Yet one is always dealing only with similarities here. It would be entirely incorrect to believe that anything repeats itself with complete identity across the great world ages. — This is also how one must understand it when lunar consciousness is now compared to that with which it bears some resemblance, namely, that of dream-filled sleep. It is the so-called “image consciousness” that human beings attain on the Moon. The similarity lies in the fact that, in both lunar and dream consciousness, images arise within the being that bear a certain relationship to things and beings in the external world. Yet these images are not, as they are for the present-day waking human being, reflections of these things and beings. Dream images are echoes of daytime experiences or symbolic expressions of events in the dreamer’s surroundings, or perhaps also of what is taking place within the personality of the person having the dream. Examples of these three cases in dream experiences are easy to provide. First, everyone is familiar with those dreams that are nothing more than jumbled images of daytime experiences from the more or less distant past. An example of the second case is when the dreamer believes they are perceiving a train rushing by and then, upon waking, realizes that the ticking of the clock lying next to them has been symbolized in this dream image. An example of the third type of dream image is when someone feels as though they are in a room where ugly animals dwell on the ceiling, and upon waking from this dream, realizes that their own headache had expressed itself in this way. — If one now wishes to proceed from such confused dream images to a conception of lunar consciousness, one must realize that the nature of imagery is present there as well, but that complete regularity prevails in place of confusion and arbitrariness. True, the images of lunar consciousness bear even less resemblance to the objects to which they refer than do dream images; but in return, there is a perfect correspondence between image and object. At the present stage of Earth’s evolution, the concept is a reflection of its object; for example, the concept of “table” is a reflection of the table itself. This is not the case with lunar consciousness. Suppose, for example, that a lunar being approaches an object that is pleasing or beneficial to him. Then a colorful image of a bright nature arises within his soul; if something harmful or unpleasant comes near him, he has an ugly, dark image. The idea is not a reflection, but rather a symbol of the object that corresponds to the object in a very specific, law-governed way. Consequently, the being who possesses such a symbolic image can organize his life accordingly. — The inner life of the lunar ancestor thus unfolded in images that share with present-day dreams their fleeting, ethereal, and symbolic nature, but differ from them in their entirely lawful character.

[ 2 ] The basis for the development of this visual consciousness among the lunar ancestors of humankind was the formation of a third body alongside the physical body and the etheric body. This third body is called the astral body—but this formation did not take place until the third, shorter lunar cycle—the so-called third lunar round. The first two lunar cycles are merely a repetition of what had already been experienced on Saturn and the Sun. Yet this repetition must not be imagined as though all the events that occurred on Saturn and the Sun were simply taking place again. What is repeated—the formation of a physical body and an etheric body—simultaneously undergoes such a transformation that these two aspects of human nature can be united with the astral body during the third lunar cycle, something that could not yet have taken place on the Sun. In the third lunar period—though the process actually begins around the middle of the second—the spirits of movement pour the astral from their own nature into the human body. During the fourth lunar cycle—beginning in the middle of the third—the spirits of form shape this astral body in such a way that its form, its entire organization, can develop inner processes. These processes bear the character of what is currently called, in animals and humans, instinct, desire—or the nature of desire. From the middle of the fourth lunar cycle onward, the spirits of personality begin what will then be their main task in the fifth lunar age: they instill selfhood into the astral body, just as they did with the physical and etheric bodies in the preceding world ages. However, in order for the physical and etheric bodies to be ready at this indicated point in time—in the middle of the fourth lunar cycle—to house an astral body that has become independent, they must first be brought to this state by the formative spirits through successive stages of development. This takes place in the following manner. The physical body is brought to the necessary maturity during the first lunar cycle (round) by the spirits of movement, during the second by the spirits of form, during the third by the spirits of personality, during the fourth by the spirits of fire, and during the fifth by the spirits of twilight. Strictly speaking, this work of the spirits of twilight begins in the middle of the fourth lunar cycle, so that at the same time the spirits of personality are active in the astral body, the spirits of twilight are active in the physical body. — The situation with the etheric body is as follows. In the first lunar cycle, the spirits of wisdom implant the necessary qualities into it; in the second, those of movement; in the third, those of form; in the fourth, those of personality; and in the fifth, those of fire. Strictly speaking, this activity of the spirits of fire again proceeds simultaneously with the work of the spirits of personality on the astral body, that is, from the middle of the fourth lunar cycle into the fifth.

[ 3 ] If we consider the entire human ancestor at that time, as it evolved on the Moon, we can therefore say: beginning in the middle of the fourth lunar cycle, the human being consists of a physical body inhabited by the Sons of Twilight, an etheric body inhabited by the spirits of fire, and finally an astral body in which the spirits of personality carry out their work. — The fact that the spirits of twilight are working upon the physical human body during this period of development means for them that they are now rising to the stage of humanity, just as the spirits of personality did on Saturn and the spirits of fire did on the Sun during the same cycle. One must imagine that the “sensory germs” of the physical body, which have now developed further, can be used by the spirits of twilight from the middle of the fourth lunar cycle onward to perceive, together with them, the external objects and events on the Moon. Human beings themselves will not reach the stage on Earth where they can make use of these senses until the middle of the fourth cycle. In contrast, around the middle of the fifth lunar cycle (round), they will reach the stage where they can unconsciously act upon the physical body. Through this activity, he creates within the dullness of his consciousness the first seed of what is called the “spiritual self” (Manas) (see my Theosophy). This “spiritual self” then reaches full development in the course of humanity’s further evolution. It is that which later, in union with Atma, the “Spirit-Man,” and with Buddhi, the “Life-Spirit,” forms the higher, spiritual part of the human being. Just as on Saturn the Thrones or the spirits of the will have permeated the “Spirit-Man” (Atma), and just as on the Sun the Cherubim did so with wisdom in relation to the Life Spirit (Buddhi), so now the Seraphim accomplish this with the “Spirit Self” (Manas). They permeate it and thereby instill in it a capacity that, in later stages of development—on Earth—becomes the human power of imagination through which human beings, as thinking beings, can enter into a relationship with the world around them. — It should be noted here that, beginning in the middle of the sixth lunar cycle, the “Spirit of Life” (Buddhi) reappears, and from the middle of the seventh, the “Spirit-Man” (Atma) appears; these unite with the “Spirit-Self,” so that by the end of the entire lunar world-age, the “higher human being” is prepared. This “higher human being” then sleeps, together with the other beings that have developed on the Moon, through a period of rest (Pralaya), in order to continue its path of development on the Earth. While, from the middle of the fifth lunar cycle into the sixth, the human being works in a state of dullness on its physical body, the spirits of twilight are at work on its etheric body. As has been shown, through their work on the physical body during the preceding epoch (round), they have prepared themselves to now relieve the fire spirits in the etheric body, who in turn take over the work on the astral body from the spirits of the personality. These spirits of the personality, however, have ascended to higher spheres during this time. — The work of the twilight spirits on the etheric body means that they connect their own states of consciousness with the images of consciousness of the etheric body. Through this, they instill in it the pleasure and the pain associated with things. On the Sun, in this regard, the arena of their activity was still the purely physical body. Therefore, pleasure and pain were linked there solely to the functions of this body and to its states. Now this changes. Pleasure and pain are now linked to the sensory images that arise in the etheric body. Thus, in human twilight consciousness, a world of feelings is experienced through the spirits of twilight. This is the very same world of feelings that human beings will experience for themselves in their earthly consciousness. — At the same time, the fire spirits are at work in the astral body. They enable it to perceive and feel actively in relation to the environment. Pleasure and suffering, as they are brought about in the manner just described by the spirits of twilight in the etheric body, have a passive character; they present themselves more as inactive reflections of the external world. But what the fire spirits bring about in the astral body are active emotions, love and hate, anger, fear, horror, stormy passions, instincts, drives, and so on. Since the spirits of the personality (the Asuras) have previously imbued this body with their essence, these emotions now manifest with the character of selfhood and individuality. One must now imagine what the human ancestor on the Moon was like at that time. He possessed a physical body through which he developed, in a state of dullness, a “spiritual self” (Manas). He is endowed with an etheric body through which the twilight spirits feel pleasure and suffering; finally, he possesses an astral body that is stirred by the fire spirits into drives, emotions, and passions. But these three members of the lunar human still completely lack object consciousness. Images surge up and down in the astral body, and these are precisely inflamed by the aforementioned emotions. On Earth, when thinking object consciousness emerges, this astral body will be the subordinate vehicle or instrument of imaginative thinking. But now, on the Moon, it unfolds in its own full independence. It is therefore more active and dynamic here than it will be later on Earth. If one wishes to characterize it, one might say that it is an animal-human. And as such, it is, in its own way, at a higher stage than the present-day animals on Earth. It embodies the characteristics of animality more fully. In a certain sense, these are wilder and more unbridled than the characteristics of present-day animals. Therefore, at this stage of its existence, one may call the human being a creature that stands midway in its development between the present-day animal and the present-day human. If humans were to proceed in a straight line along this path of evolution, they would become wild, unbridled beings. Earthly evolution involves a process of attunement, a taming of the animal nature within humans. Thought-consciousness brings this about.

[ 4 ] If the human being, as he developed on the Sun, was called the “plant-man,” then the one from the Moon can be called the “animal-man”. For such a being to develop, the environment must also change. It has been shown that the plant-man of the Sun could only develop because, alongside the realm of this plant-man, a mineral realm unfolded as an independent entity. During the first two Lunar Ages (“rounds”), these two earlier realms—the plant realm and the mineral realm—emerge once more from the darkness. They appear to have changed only in that both have become somewhat coarser and denser. During the third Lunar Age, a part of the plant kingdom now splits off. It does not undergo the transition toward coarseness. In this way, it provides the substance from which the animal nature of the human being can form. It is precisely this animal nature, in its connection with the more highly developed etheric body and the newly formed astral body, that constitutes the threefold nature of the human being described above. Not the entire plant world that developed on the Sun can evolve into animality. For animal beings require the plant as a prerequisite for their existence. A plant world is the foundation of an animal world. Just as the Solar human could only rise to the level of a plant by pushing a portion of his fellow beings down into a coarser mineral kingdom, so it is now the case with the Lunar-animal human. He leaves behind, at the stage of coarser plant life, a portion of the beings who, while still on the Sun, were of the same plant nature as he was. Just as, however, the Lunar-Animal Human is not like the present-day animal but stands midway between the present-day animal and the present-day human, so too does the Lunar Mineral stand between the present-day mineral and the present-day plant. It possesses something plant-like. The lunar rocks are not stones in the modern sense; they possess a living, sprouting, growing character. Similarly, the lunar plant is imbued with a certain animalistic character.

[ 5 ] The Moon-Animal-Man does not yet have solid bones. His skeletal structure is still cartilaginous. His entire nature is softer than it is today. Accordingly, his mobility is also different. His mode of locomotion is not walking, but rather jumping—or even floating. This was possible because the Moon at that time did not have, as the present-day Earth does, a thin, airy atmosphere; rather, its envelope was considerably denser—even denser than water is today. In this viscous element, he moved back and forth, up and down. And in this element also lived the minerals and animals from which he drew his so-called nourishment. Yes, this element also contained the power that was later transferred on Earth entirely to the beings themselves—the power of fertilization. For at that time, humanity had not yet developed into two sexes, but existed as a single sex. And it was formed from its watery atmosphere. But just as everything in the world exists in transitional stages, so too did the distinction between the two sexes begin to develop in individual animal-human beings during the final Lunar periods, as a preparation for the later condition on Earth.

[ 6 ] The sixth and seventh lunar cycles represent a kind of ebbing away of all the processes described, but at the same time the emergence of a sort of overripe state, until the whole then passes into a period of rest (Pralaya) to slip into earthly existence.

[ 7 ] Now, the development of the human astral body is connected to a certain cosmic process, which must also be described here. When, after the period of rest that follows the Solar Age, the Sun reawakens and emerges from the darkness, everything living on the planet thus emerging still inhabits it as a whole. But this reawakening Sun is different from what it was before. Its substance is no longer luminous throughout as it was before; rather, it has darker regions. These parts, as it were, separate themselves from the uniform mass. And beginning with the second cycle (round), these parts increasingly appear as independent entities; the body of the Sun thereby takes on a sponge-like structure. It consists of two parts—one significantly larger and one smaller—which are still connected by a linking element. In the third cycle, these two bodies then separate completely from one another. The Sun and the Moon are now two bodies, and the latter moves in a circular orbit around the former. Along with the Moon, all the beings whose development has been described here emerge from the Sun. The unfolding of the astral body takes place precisely on the separated lunar body. The cosmic process described here is the prerequisite for the further development outlined. As long as the beings in question—who belong to humanity—drew their power from their own dwelling place in the Sun, their development could not reach the stage described. In the fourth cycle (round), the Moon is an independent planet, and what has been described for this period takes place on this lunar planet.

[ 8 ] Let us now provide a clear overview of the evolution of the lunar planet and its beings.

1. The Moon is the planet on which human beings develop their pictorial consciousness with its symbolic character.
2. During the first two cycles (rounds), human development on the Moon is prepared in a sort of repetition of the Saturn and Sun processes.
3. In the third cycle, the human astral body comes into being through an outflow of the spirits of movement.
4. Simultaneously with this process, the Moon splits off from the newly awakened unified solar body and orbits the remnant of the Sun. The development of the beings connected to humankind now takes place on the Moon.
5. In the fourth cycle, the spirits of twilight inhabit the human physical body and thereby rise to the level of humanity.
6. Autonomy is instilled in the emerging astral body by the spirits of personality (Asuras).
7. In the fifth cycle, the human being begins to work on his physical body in a dull, unrefined manner. Through this, the “spirit self” (Manas) joins the monad that already existed.
8. During the lunar phase, a kind of pleasure and suffering of a passive nature develops in the human etheric body. In the astral body, on the other hand, emotions such as anger and hatred, as well as instincts, passions, and so on, unfold.
9. The animal kingdom, in which human beings now find themselves, joins the two earlier kingdoms—the plant and mineral kingdoms—which have been cast down to a lower level

[ 9 ] Toward the end of the entire world-age, the Moon draws ever closer to the Sun, and when the time of rest (Pralaya) begins, the two have reunited into a single whole, which then enters a state of slumber, only to awaken anew in a new world-age—that of the Earth.